Pretending
by toppie
Summary: There was no reason to pretend anymore. Kuroh/Neko. Post S1.


**Hello guys! I'm here for another depressing Kuroh/Neko story!**

**I'm not really happy on the flow of the story... But I can't think of any other way to fix it ;_;**

* * *

**Pretend**

There was no reason to pretend anymore. Kuroh/Neko. Post S1.

* * *

They're finally with their king, after a long time of waiting, he's right in front of her eyes, sleeping on her lap, in their own new airship.

On the periphery, she sees him staring - eyes burrowing its ways into hers.

She pretends she didn't see and continues to play with Shiro's hair.

* * *

He's staring again.

This time, it's only the two of them.

With nothing to focus on, she lies down the comfy chair and closes her eyes.

* * *

_They sat by the edge of the tower, sun setting, and wind blowing softly._

_Despite the city noise below, and her bell ringing as the wind catches it, the silence was comforting._

_She closed her eyes and tucked her hair behind her ear. When she opened them, he's looking at her._

_She looked back and smiled._

_He smiled back and offered his hand._

_She took it happily._

* * *

She wakes up and it's already dark, with his jacket draped over her, and Kuroh nowhere to be seen.

She sits up and picks the jacket that accidentally fell on the floor, and sniffs it.

It smelled like him.

She closes her eyes and sighed. _It wasn't supposed to be like this._

Not wanting to dwell on it any longer, she stands up and folds the jacket - something he taught her how to, after all, he liked everything neat and clean - something she knew she was an exception.

She carries the jacket, leaves the room, and begins to look for him.

A couple of hallways and doors later, she saw his room and finds it opens. He's cleaning his sword and feeling her presence looks up.

Silence envelopes the room, finally ridding the lump in her throat, she speaks. "Thank you Kurosuke, for the jacket..."

He stands up and takes it from her, their hands brushing slightly.

At that moment, she felt him stiffen and her heart skips a beat.

"You're welcome." He replies with a weary smile.

There was that silence again. This time, she found it suffocating.

When she can't take it anymore, she left as fast as she could without saying anything.

* * *

It was all wrong.

The story should be the two clansmen travels to find their king. The one likes to cook and very loyal to their king and the other one turns into a cat and loves their king very much. Finally they find their king and the three of them lived happily ever after.

But in between those lines, the words jumbled and turned it into a mess.

_Two clansmen traveled to find their king. The one likes to cook and very loyal to their king and the other one turns into a cat and loves their king very much. Between looking and wandering, the two clansmen fell in love with one another._

_"Kurosuke?" She whispered as they lay under the stars._

_He looked at her and smiled, "What is it?"_

_"I... I- I just wonder where's Shiro among those stars..."_

_"I don't know either, do you want to guess?"_

_She nodded. "Okay."_

_Honestly, she just chickened out. She could tell him some other time._

_The next day, their king came back... Back for his queen and knight._

_"S-shiro?" She rubbed her eyes... Finding it hard to believe in what she is seeing._

_"Neko." He replied and smiled._

_Still unable to take in what was happening; she just stared at him dumbfounded._

_Shiro made his way to her and took her in his arms. "I missed you, Neko..."_

_All she can do was succumb into his embrace, __**"everything is the same again."**_

_But when she looked at Kuroh and saw the hurt in his eyes, she knew that nothing was right anymore._

_And worse, she pretends she didn't see._

She is happy their king finally came back, but the happiness she felt was different - she felt happiness because a friend came back, it wasn't because she finally found her long lost king,

It wasn't like that at all, because her affections found its way to another's.

* * *

The three of them shared a bond that seemed unbreakable. It was something she might have believed in the start, but when things got complicated, she wasn't sure anymore.

If one pulls too tight, one of the threads might snap.

She thinks he knew it too.

* * *

The two were left alone again.

Shiro left to talk to Munataka about a group that has been messing around the city. It seems that the present colorless king was as troublesome as the last.

She was told to stay in the ship and Kuroh was told to look around the city for clues.

"Why haven't you left yet?" She asks.

He knew that question meant differently. "You know I won't do that... I promised." He stands up to take his leave. "I'm going now."

"But Kurosuke..." She replies.

He stops in his tracks.

She looks at him, "Promises are meant to be broken sometimes."

He looks back, "Not if I promised to the girl that I-"

He stopps, and she suddenly forgot how to breathe.

"To the girl that I've been through with a lot."

And with that he's gone. And she remembers how to breathe again.

* * *

_She watched his steady breathing as he sleeps._

_This has been a current thing for her now, watching him and memorizing his features._

_Because he might disappear too while she sleep._

_She suddenly felt his arms around her._

_"Go to sleep..."_

_Not convinced, she asked. "...how can you be so sure?"_

_Answering her vague question, he replied. "I just do." He pulled her closer. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."_

_She smiled. That's good enough for her._

* * *

"Just this once..." He silently pleads as he holds her closer.

Hey eyes widens in his grasp.

It was an accident... Tripping and landing in his chest for support was an accident.

She's always been clumsy.

But embracing him back, and crying and ruining his shirt were something she let herself give in into.

* * *

In that moment, the world came crashing down on her.

The attack escalated quickly.

Everything was a blur and now, all she saw was a burning city and Kuroh lying on the ground, bloody and battered.

_No. No. No. No. No._

She screamed his name as she ran to him, as fast as her feet would take her.

She didn't care about anything around them anymore.

She didn't care about the pain her body was feeling as she ran to him.

She didn't care about the inferno this city is in now.

She didn't care about the people watching her,

She didn't care that Shiro was one of them.

All she cared about is one thing, her Knight.

_She can't pretend anymore._

She held his hand. _Please be okay..._

He slowly opened his eyes, "N-neko?"

The tears in her eyes flowed harder when he looked at her eyes, "It's me Kurosuke..."

He continued looking at her, she watched painfully as he slowly reached and caressed her face. "I love you."

He kissed her._ At that time, she thinks he understood..._

Everything stopped. The pain their battered body felt didn't matter. All that matter is this moment that the two of them longed, in the most painful time. All kept feelings poured into one bittersweet kiss.

Both of them fought hard, but she can slowly feel him drifting away...

"I love you too... I always did."

Kuroh held her hand and smiled, "I'm glad. Please stop crying."

Slowly, he let go.

Everything was silent.

* * *

_At that time, she thinks he understood..._

**_...that there's no reason to pretend anymore._**

* * *

**Why do I always write sad stories? XD**


End file.
